To Vegas with love

by J. A. Cipriano

  “That’s a pickle.” I sighed. “So, what, do we need to do to get the law changed?”

  “Make the state senators and whatnot change it.” Skye shrugged. “I already put Ronnie on it. She’s working her charms as we speak … but there’s a bigger problem.”

  “What’s that?” I asked, still annoyed.

  “We aren’t going to be able to pry those VA hospitals from Chet either. He’s spent so much money getting them, the contracts might as well be carved in the bedrock of the city.” Skye sighed. “He probably won’t notice the law getting changed, but there’s a really good chance he’ll see it coming up and squash it.”

  “Well, I’m not losing to some smug bastard.” I looked at the ceiling. “I’ll beat him if I have to crack open city hall and erase those contracts myself.”

  “There might be another way, actually.” Skye looked at me. “I think we basically have to make it so that no one will risk their political career to help Chet.”

  “I don’t see how we can do that. It seems like they don’t give a fuck about all the shit he’s doing, now.” I thought for a moment. “But I’m guessing you have an idea?”

  “Yep.” She nodded as she stood and moved toward the window that overlooked the strip. “Remember when he did all that shit with the inspectors and the drugs, so we’d get bad press?”

  “Yes.” I thought back to how we’d only survived that because of my pen, and even then, Shelley said revenues were down fifteen percent. “Wait, you want to do that to him?”

  “It’s actually a lot easier because he actually does do tons of stuff. If we can get that VA stuff or his shady water deal out in the open, maybe it’ll make everyone hate him.” Skye gave me a hopeful smile.

  “I’m not sure that will be enough.” I glanced at her computer. “Can you get more?”

  “Possibly.” Skye stared out the window for a moment. “The real problem is disseminating the information.”

  “What do you mean?” I approached Skye, and as I did, I realized that even during the last fading hours of the day, Las Vegas was a beautiful city, and she deserved better than what these bastards had given her.

  “I mean that Chet is one of the biggest advertisers for all the local and national channels, and I doubt they’ll run anything bad about him without his approval.” She shook her head. “There’s no upside for them to do that.”

  “Oh.” I thought for a moment. “What if we bought them?”

  “Bought the news channels?” Skye mused, drumming her fingernails on the windowsill. “Now that’s an idea.”

  “It definitely is.” I waved a hand. “But, now that I think about it, I don’t know that we even need to do that.”

  “What do you mean?” Skye turned and studied me. “How else can we get them to air what we need them to? I doubt money would do that unless you owned them …”

  “I have a magic pen,” I said, producing it and holding it in the air between us. “And honestly, I’m not above brainwashing a few douchebags to get the truth out there.”

  “You know …” Skye put her hand on my arm. “You could always just make Chet give you everything like you did with Arthur Modi.”

  “That was Arthur’s choice.” I stared out at the city. “I’m not sure why, but this feels different. I mean, Chet wants to beat me at his game, and I kinda want to beat him.” I tapped the pen against the window. “Using this to beat him kind of feels like it would take all the fun out of beating the pants off of him, so if I can, I’d rather take him down in a way that doesn’t involve scrubbing his mind. If I do that, well, he sort of wins.”

  “I can see that,” Skye replied before moving back to the conference table. “And I think you’re right. Beating that asshole at his own game will be way more satisfying.” She snatched up her computer. “Let me go find some dirt on him.” She watched me for a second. “What are you going to do?”

  “Talk to Shelley and Amy and formulate a plan.” I nodded to her. “Say, any luck on that assassin yet?”

  “To be honest, no, but only because I sort of forgot about it. I did put out feelers, so I’ll have to check with them. If they have something, I’ll let you know.” Skye moved to the exit but stopped as she reached the door. “You’ve done a lot of good today, by the way.”

  “I have?” I quirked an eyebrow at her. “I’ve barely done anything.”

  “Um, maybe you’re not keeping track, but you fixed a bunch of water pipes making the water in half the poor areas of the city undrinkable and are retrofitting the treatment plant so that it will not only be incredibly profitable but so that the rest of the surrounding area doesn’t have to worry about the water either.” She came toward me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “And, on top of that, you’re going to stop that corporate land grab and fifty other things.”

  “Well, you guys all helped with that too.” I smiled at her as she stepped back a pace. “In fact, you guys did most of it.”

  “I love that you think that.” Skye winked at me. “Anyway, I have work to do.”

  She started to go, but as she did, I decided I wanted to cheat at the game a little bit. After all, it wouldn’t hurt to get the snowball running.

  “Say, Skye?” She stopped at the door. “Can you find out where those contracts for the veteran’s hospitals are?”

  “I’ll have it on your desk in the morning.” She didn’t even look back. “I knew you’d definitely want that one done sooner or later, so I underlined it on my notes twice.”

  “You took notes?” I asked, following her out of the conference room.

  “I did up here.” She tapped her temple a couple times with her index finger. “And that’s where it counts.”

  “Right.” I smiled at her as we reached the elevator. “Guess I’ll give Ronnie a call and find out her progress before I meet with Amy. I still want to know what other assets Modi has.”

  “Enjoy yourself.” Skye stepped into the elevator and waited like she expected me to join her.

  “I think I’m going to take the stairs. Better reception.” I held up my phone.

  Skye nodded as the elevator doors shut. I stood there a moment before dialing Ronnie, but unfortunately, it went straight to voicemail. That was fine though. She’d call me back.

  “Hey, Ronnie, it’s Roger. Let me know how things are going with the laws.” I hung up as I reached the stairs, and even though I knew I could just turn and take the elevator, I decided to take them down anyway.

  22

  I’d barely made it six steps when I realized I should have taken the elevator because standing in the stairwell was Missy Moppet. And, even though her name was, well, stripperesque, the Lois Lane wannabe had all the makings of a great investigative reporter, and I’d been dodging her for months.

  Why? Because she was good, and I knew that if I spent any amount of time with her, she’d probably figure out my whole ‘magic pen’ thing. Call me crazy but having a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist put the secret of my pen in the Vegas Daily seemed about as much fun as sticking my dick in a beehive.

  “How the hell did you get past security? They aren’t supposed to let you in the building” I asked, glaring at her as she adjusted her thick glasses before starting up the stairs toward me. “And why are you waiting here?”

  “Tricks of the trade.” She pulled off her glasses and shoved them into her handbag before brushing her blonde bangs out of her face. “You’d be surprised how different you look with just a pair of glasses.” She pulled out her own pad and pen, though hers was decidedly not magical. “I have a few questions to ask you.”

  “I have nothing to say to you, Missy,” I said, shrugging. “Also, I’m going to add your picture to the facial recognition scanners, so your little trick won’t work again.” I gave her a hard look. “They’re so good, they could tell me Clark Kent is Superman.”

  “I don’t know why you won’t just chat with me, Roger.” She gave me a wolfish grin. “We could be best friends.”

  �
��That is unlikely.” I crossed my arms over my chest and wondered if I should use my powers to make her forget about me. “You’ve been misinformed.”

  “And am I also misinformed that you just purchased Modi Asset Management?” She tapped her blue ballpoint against her notepad. “Because I have it on good authority you now own the whole company.” She glanced at her pad, though whether it was from habit or she was reading notes, I wasn’t sure. “Which is odd because three days ago, you were so leveraged, I was pretty sure the bums outside were worth more than you, and yet, somehow, you’ve managed to purchase a firm worth over sixteen billion dollars and clear all your debt.” She took another step up the stairs, blocking my path. “How is that possible?”

  “Basically?” I leaned in close to her, not letting her closeness intimidate me. Two could play at this game, after all. “I found out that Chet McMahon and Modi were doing some shady shit, and it needed stopping.” I swept my hands out. “No one else is doing shit about that. So, I took the matter into my own hands.”

  “Wait, what?” Missy gave me a confused look. “You bought the company because of Chet McMahon?”

  “In a roundabout way.” I tried to push past her, but she sidestepped along with me. “Look, I have things to do. I haven’t eaten dinner, and I still have to go through all of Modi’s actual assets.”

  “Can we take a timeout?” Missy caught my eye, and she had a serious expression on her face. Then she made a show of tucking her pen behind her ear and putting her pad away. “I really want to hear more about this.”

  “I’d love to chat with you, but you’re the enemy.” I nodded to her. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I have a hankering for some Chinese. Or sushi. I’m not quite sure.”

  “I’ve been trying to get Chet McMahon for almost a decade, and I’ve been unable to pin anything on him. It all slides off like he’s made of fucking Teflon.” She met my eyes, and I could tell she was one hundred percent serious. “I don’t know what the fuck you’ve got going on here or how you seem to be able to defy all odds and always come out on top, but if you can take him down, I’m in.”

  “Let me get this straight.” I leaned on the banister. “You think I’m going to just believe you just like this? You’ve been trying to fuck me over for the last several months.”

  “I know.” She bit her lip. “And yes, I admit this seems off because, well, I was here to blindside you about Modi and confirm the rumors that you’re going to cost the area hundreds of jobs by blocking the new treatment plant.” She scrunched up her nose. “And yes, I recognize that my saying that makes me seem like I can’t be trusted, but I can.” She put her hand on her heart. “I always protect my sources.”

  I stared at her for a long time and then sighed. I didn’t know why, but I felt she was telling the truth, and if she was, well, maybe we could help each other. That said, I had to make absolutely sure.

  “Will you submit to a lie detector test for the duration of our conversation?” I asked, calling her bluff. “That way, I’ll know if what you’re telling me is the truth.”

  “Um, sure, I guess.” She frowned. “You have a lie detector?” She looked around like I may have hidden it in the walls. Man, maybe she wasn’t as good as I’d thought … and that was probably what she wanted me to think because the Pulitzer prize winner had brought down too many corrupt members of the government to count.

  “It’s fine, I don’t need to hook you up to anything. I just needed to know you were okay with it.” I looked into her eyes and nodded before my pulling out my pen and writing a quick line.

  Missy Moppet can’t lie to me.

  “Um, okay …” She nodded. “This will be completely off the record.”

  “I believe you,” I replied as I spun on my heel and began making my way back up the stairs. “Come on, there’s a conference room on the next floor. Let’s talk there.” When I reached the door, I opened it and held it for her. “After you. Also, what do you want to eat?”

  “To eat?” she asked, stopping just shy of the threshold and giving me a confused look. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that I’m fucking starving, and I was on my way to get food. I told you that. Sushi or Chinese, and either way, anything special?” I made a ‘move it’ gesture.

  “Why not both?” She took a few steps forward. “You can afford it, right?”

  “I can.” I nodded to her as I pulled out my phone and made a couple orders as we made our way to the conference room. That was definitely one of the perks of being rich. If I wanted something, I could get it delivered pretty much anywhere, especially since both places were just downstairs in the casino so, it wasn’t super crazy or anything.

  “I can’t believe you ordered three orders of yellowtail sashimi,” Missy said as we entered the conference room and she moved to sit in the center of the room.

  “Well, I’m going to eat at least two myself, and I figured you might want to try some, so …” I shrugged. “You know me, I want everyone to be fed.” I sat down in the chair across from her. “So, why are we talking?”

  “Because if you find something, I can make sure it gets heard.” Missy leaned forward on her elbows. “And, I guaran-damn-tee, nearly anyone else will get bought or stopped. I won’t.”

  “So, you have nothing,” I looked toward the ceiling and thought about it. “Thing is, I don’t need you to ensure what I find comes out.”

  “Perhaps.” Missy snapped her fingers to get my attention back on her face. She seemed a bit annoyed. “But do you have my credibility?” She shook her head. “We both know you don’t, so you may as well work with me on this unless you have nothing.”

  “Oh, I can have things.” I paused for a moment. “Or at least I will by the morning. I don’t think it’s going to do a lot of good though.”

  “By the morning?” She gave me a quizzical look I couldn’t quite read. “Why don’t you have it now?”

  “Why don’t you already have it?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her. “You said you’ve been looking at him for years.”

  “Fair point, but I thought the whole point of coming here was so that we could chat.” She frowned and moved like she was going to get up. “But the morning is fine. We’ll swap dinner for breakfast then? Say seven o clock …?”

  She was interrupted by the door opening and a bevy of staff coming in to lay out an assortment of food on the table.

  “Or we can have both.” I nodded at the platters laid out on the table as everyone left. “I did order for two, after all.”

  “You ordered for ten,” Missy said, looking over the contents of the meal.

  “Two, ten, who can tell in this crazy mixed-up world?” I gestured at her chair. “Sit, be merry.”

  “You know,” she said, sliding into her seat. “I’ve been trying to get you to talk to me for months. I’d have killed for this opportunity before, but you’ve avoided me this whole time. Why the change? Really for Chet?”

  “Mostly,” I said as I poured some sake into two cups and offered her one. “Kanpai.”

  She took the cup from me and frowned. “Um … I’m not sure I should be drinking. It makes me seem unprofessional, and I don’t want you to think this is more than it is.”

  “I won’t read too much into that you don’t want to get drunk around me. Just put it down on the table, I won’t bother you about it again.” I smiled and drained my cup. “Promise.” I moved to open the tall Sapporo and pour it into my glass.

  “Fair enough.” She stared at the cup for a long moment before putting it down. “Can you pass the shrimp shumai?”

  “Sure,” I said, offering her the platter. Then I grabbed a carton of pork fried rice and went to town on it.

  We ate in companionable silence for the next few minutes before it was interrupted by my phone ringing, causing Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” to fill my ears.

  “Expecting a call?” Missy asked as I fished my phone out of my pocket and confirmed it was Skye on the other end.

 
“Always. I’m a busy guy,” I said before answering. “Hey, Skye, what’s up?”

  “Roger, you’re never going to believe what I found.” Skye’s voice got low and angry. “This guy is totally fucked. Check the files I sent you. I wanted you to see this, but I’m going to keep digging. Also, I spent three million dollars.” She clicked off before I could respond to that little tidbit.

  Curious as to what she’d spent so much on, I flicked through my phone and opened the email, and as I did my eyes went wide. Then, very casually, I slid the phone to Missy. “What do you make of that?”

  She nearly choked on her wonton soup as she saw the photo. “That’s, um … not Mrs. McMahon.”

  “No …” I shook my head, suddenly so angry I actually considered having Chet just walk into traffic. “Because I’m pretty sure Mrs. McMahon isn’t a twelve-year-old boy.”

  23

  I was still so angry I could barely speak, and as I marched out of the casino toward my limo, Missy put a hand on my arm.

  “Roger, you can’t just go into a news station and get on television with a single cell phone picture,” she said, trying to hold me back. “It’s not enough, and even if it was, they won’t let you show it on air anyway.”

  “I understand what you’re saying,” I said, barely slowing. “But your way lets this asshole stay out of jail for a moment longer.” I shook my phone at her. “Once he sees this, he’ll have to react. His empire will fall down all around him, and it will all be gone.”

  “It’s not enough. Hell, I haven’t even verified if it’s real. His lawyers will say it’s photoshopped.” Missy tried to stop me again. “Just let’s take a couple days, okay? I can track down that club, build a big article—”

  “No.” I turned and looked at her, meeting her piercing blue eyes with my own. “I’m going in there and going on the air.” I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “Then I’m going to show them this picture because it is real.”